A bakery in Bolton run by ex-offenders has been left flying high after winning big at the 2023 British Pie Awards.
Proving that everyone deserves a second chance, the bakery scooped up two gongs at this year’s prestigious ceremony held inside Melton Mobrawy’s 12th Century St Mary’s Church, also known as the ‘Cathedral of Pies’.
Cleaning up, the team of ex-offenders impressively won two gold medals in the Pub Pie category for their Joseph Holts Classic pie with Lancashire, cheddar and mozzarella, onion and potato pie, and Joseph Holts steak and ale pie.
Sharing the news to social media, the team wrote: “We are delighted to say that a couple of our pies have won gold awards this week.
“We are so very proud of our team again and we will be sharing more details about the pies very soon.”
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Fans were quick to comment, with one person writing: “I remember when you were first starting out. Look how far you have come. So proud of you and your team. Congratulations mate.”
Image: HM Pasties
Image: HM Pasties
Another said: “A well deserved result. Well done Lee and all the team. X”
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HM Pasties, set up by former prisoner Lee Wakeham in 2018, offers a lifeline to those in need of work experience after leaving prison.
Using ingredients from local prison farms wherever possible, the bakery makes delicious Cornish pasties and pies.
They weren’t the only ones to win big, either, with a total of five different Greater Manchester pie makers taking home gongs this year.
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Awards also went to Ate Days A Week in Stockport, Baldy’s in Wigan, The Crown Hawk Green in Marple, Plau in Preston and Cheshire Pie Company in Sandbach.
Wigan favourite Baldy’s took home a gold medal for its Michelle’s chicken carbonara in the Chicken With Other Meat Pie category, as well as scooping up a bronze award for its chicken and pumpkin pie (aka Olivia Mai – The People’s Pie) – named after the eight-year-old customer who requested it.
Image: Ate Days A Week
Image: Plau Preston
After announcing its wins, Baldy’s shared a message from Olivia’s mother who said the bakery was ‘really on another level’ and had made her eight-year-old daughter ‘very happy’.
The message continued: “She was so pleased when you told her you were entering her pie into the competition but to win an award is something else!”
Baldy’s also scored bronze in the Chicken & Vegetable / Herb Pie category for its Gino De Pesto pie, and in the Lamb Pie category for its Uncle Joe’s mint ball lamb pie.
Other big wins for Greater Manchester pie makers included a gold medal in the Pub Pie category for The Crown Hawk Green’s chicken ham and leek pie, two silver medals in the Meat & Potato Pie category for Ate Days A Week’s lamb Pie Of The Tiger and ox cheek Pie of the Tiger, and a silver in the Lamb Pie category for Plau Preston’s Lancashire hotpot pie.
J McRobb Butchers Ltd in Chorley also won a bronze medal for its McRobb’s chicken, ham and leek pie, whilst further afield Macclesfield’s Treacle Town Pie Company won bronze for its chicken, pancetta and lemon thyme pie, and in Sandbach the Cheshire Pie Company took home a gold for its Christmas pie.
Cake Loves Cake in Greenheys, South Manchester took home a bronze medal for its meat and potato pie, whilst Wilmslow-based frozen meal company COOK won bronze in the Vegetarian Pie category for its roasted veg, lentils and kale pie.
In total, this year there was a record-breaking 976 entries from 179 piemakers at the British Pie Awards with 151 judges.
To see the full list of award winners from the 2023 British Pie Awards, check out its Twitter feed here.
Feature image – HM Pasties
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Top Manchester restaurant ‘so chuffed’ after receiving glowing national review
Daisy Jackson
Top Manchester restaurant Skof has received a stunning review from a national critic, with the team saying they are ‘so chuffed’.
The acclaimed NOMA restaurant, headed up by chef Tom Barnes, has rapidly become one of Manchester’s most decorated restaurants.
Not only does it proudly display its first Michelin star – earned in less than a year after opening – but it’s also been named the coveted AA Restaurant of the Year.
And now Skof can add a rave Guardian review to the list too, with critic Grace Dent heaping praise upon the business.
She said that Skof is ‘well worth the hype’, describing it (much like its parent restaurant L’enclume) to be ‘one of those intensely relaxed yet still ferociously fancy restaurants’.
Dent praised ‘hugely scoffable’ snacks like a cheese biscuit topped with broad bean, pike roe and shiso, as well as a lightly set custard with truffle and mushroom dashi (‘a quiche filling on steroids’).
In her Guardian review, she also loved the final course always served at Skof no matter how much the menu changes with the seasons – the tiramisu served from a giant bowl, tableside.
“The final hurrah: that scoop of Tom’s dad’s tiramisu, served from a big bowl,” Grace Dent wrote.
“It’s a clunky, sentimental and, ultimately, glorious end to the meal. Many Michelin-starred restaurants bookend your visit with a gift of seeds, teabags or fancy chocolate, but at Skof they send you on your way with this tiny taste of boozy stodge that’s both incongruous with everything that went before but at the same time is also symbolic of Tom Barnes’ life and everything that went before.”
Grace Dent heaped praise on Skof in a recent Guardian reviewSkof placed 29th in the National Restaurant Awards
The amazing review also said: “Fine dining can at times be truly maddening, and leave diners hungry and hoodwinked, but Skof is proof that this often precarious blend of pacing, staging and portion size can be properly magical.”
She signed off by saying: “Skof is clever and emotional… It’s also well worth the hype, so do try to nab a table, if you can. It’s fancy, yes, but it also fills you up. This is fine dining that even a naysayer would like.”
Skof has said that it’s ‘so chuffed’ to receive the review, which landed in The Guardian on the restaurant’s second birthday.
They wrote: “Our 2nd birthday just got a quite a bit more special with an absolutely amazing review from @gracedent. We’re so chuffed with the write up. Hope the man from the traitors comes down, so we can serve him a crumpet.”
You can read Grace Dent’s full Skof review in The Guardian here.
The legendary Hulme community pub The Old Abbey Taphouse has been reborn
Daisy Jackson
The closure of The Old Abbey Taphouse was a real blow for Hulme and the surrounding university district area; the community pub was a bit of a local institution thanks to its grassroots music and inclusive atmosphere.
But now it appears that the spirit of the venue lives on, under the new name of The Abbey.
Some of the city’s most experienced independent operators – who have been behind venues like YES and The Deaf Institute, and music promoters Now Wave – will be the new custodians of this beloved local landmark.
The pub, which closed early last year, has now been carefully and lovingly restored ahead of its big relaunch, which will start in true Manc vision with an exclusive opening night gig.
The Abbey is reborn. (Credit: The Manc Group)
The vision for its new chapter will be ‘Old Pub, New Music’, creating a new home for grassroots live music and emerging artists.
There’s also affordable, hearty pub grub, including Pieminister pies, and a huge range of beers from local breweries and beyond.
Bringing The Abbey back to life are a core team of four: Ruth Hemmingfield, Wesley Jones, Jonathan Wickstead and Gareth Butterworth.
Ruth, Jon and Wesley are co-owners of YES; Ruth previously launched and programmed landmark Manc venues including The Deaf Institute, Gorilla and Albert Hall; while Wesley and Jonathan, through Now Wave, promote hundreds of independent gigs and live events each year.
As for Gareth, he’s the founder of the multi-venue festival Manchester Psych Fest, meaning that all of them have plenty of hospitality, late-night, live music and events experience between them.
The team behind The Abbey pub. Credit: Piran Aston
The rear of the site of The Old Abbey Taphouse will be extended to create a new dedicated live music and events venue, while the cherished beer garden is given a facelift with new decking and its own bar.
The Abbey has stood in Hulme since the 1890s, playing an important role in the area’s heritage – this is where activist Len Johnson managed to overturn the shameful ‘colour bar’ policies of the 1940s.
Its restoration and relaunch are part of the flourishing Manchester Science Park development.
Matthew Pazos, Senior Retail Commercial Manager at Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Ruth, Wesley and Jonathan are the perfect custodians to breathe new life into The Abbey.
“Their reputation for running independent spaces in Manchester, alongside their live music expertise, will ensure this much-valued pub once again becomes a beating heart for Hulme and the wider neighbourhood.
“The reopening of The Abbey will create an inclusive new hub that welcomes everyone – from the Hulme locals who have looked after the pub over the years, to the Manchester Science Park community, university students, and the many residents and workers across the Oxford Road Corridor.
“We are delighted that such a culturally significant and important pub is set to open its doors once again.”
Ruth from the new Abbey team commented: “We love a good pub. With The Abbey, we’re excited about bringing a brilliant old pub back to life, protecting what people loved about it, and creating something special: a great local, alongside a vital grassroots music venue for the area.
“We’re honouring the pub’s history while building its future.”
Georgina Pellant -
13th March 2023 
